Performance analysis of a horizontal well located in an underground gas storage facility

Natural gas is the most ecological fossil fuel thanks to lower CO2 emissions and no dust pollution, hence it is included into raw materials beneficial from the point of view of environmental protection. Natural gas is extracted from deposits often located at great depths by means of both vertical and horizontal drilling, characterised by high efficiency in terms of obtaining the highest possible productivity, which will allow the existing resources of the deposit to be exploited in the shortest possible time. The paper analyses the influence of factors such as reservoir pressure, the thickness of the reservoir, the length of a horizontal section, average permeability of a reservoir, turbulence coefficient and water exponent on the process of lifting a liquid phase during the operation of a horizontal well located in an underground gas storage facility. The calculations were carried out using data concerning exploitation of the “B” natural gas field and conducted using the “IHS PERFORM” computer programme, which is the leading industry software for carrying out analyses of productivity changes in gas wells. In the final part of the article, conclusions are given, summarising the results of the nodal analysis reservoir performance curve (IPR) and well throughput curve (VLP).